Serving from Strength...

This week, we are looking a story that is recorded for us in the book of Acts about a challenge to the early church that did not come from outside the church. Instead, this challenge came from inside the church. A challenge to resolve not only a tension between differing cultures that arose from inattention; this was a tension that involved meeting the pressing and practical needs that arose as a result of the co:mission that they had been given. Today, we see Luke record how the early church responded to this challenge in Acts 6:2:

So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.

Luke tells us that Jesus twelve closest followers responded to the challenge that lay before them by calling the first church business meeting. Can you imagine what that must have looked like? Can you imagine what it would have looked like to see thousands of followers of Jesus fill the temple courts? And as these early followers of Jesus filled the temple courts, the disciples shared with the early church the challenge that they faced. "It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.” Now at first glance, that statement could come across as arrogant, couldn’t it? This statement could easily come across as “It is beneath me to serve tables. I am way more important to waste my time handing out food to widows”.

However, that is not the heart behind the twelve who had been given the responsibility to lead this new movement called the church. And we know that was not their heart because of this little phrase “neglect the word of God in order to serve tables”. This little phrase, in the language that this letter was originally written in, conveys that sense of setting something aside for the sake of something else. In other words, the leaders of the early church were saying “We can’t do both. We can’t protect, care, lead, and feed the church spiritually and serve the pressing and practical needs physically. We do not have enough time or energy to do both. And we do not believe that Jesus would be pleased if we were to focus our time and our energy outside of our strengths and our gifting”.

You see, this is not an issue of arrogance. This is not an issue of power or position. For these early leaders of the church, this was an issue involving how they were going to serve. This issue revolved around whether or not they were going to serve from their strengths and the gifting that they had been given by God. We see this reality revealed for us by what these early leaders of the church recommended when it came to overcoming this challenge in verse 3:

"Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. "But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word."

Luke tells us that these early leaders recommended that the early church identify seven men who would become the first of a new group of leaders in the church. This new group of leaders would be given the responsibility to ensure that the pressing and practical needs of those who were in need were being met. What is interesting is that when Luke uses the word select here, this word literally means to make a careful inspection that results in a selection. This was not to simply be a popularity contest. These seven men would have to meet specific qualifications.

First, we see that these men were to have a good reputation. These men would have to be men who were well spoken of when it came to their character and conduct. Second, we see that these me were to be full of the Spirit. These were to be men who were spiritual mature and lived their day to day life in a way that was controlled and influenced by the Holy Spirit. Third, these were men that were full of wisdom. Now when the Bible uses the word wisdom, this word refers to a developed skill for living life that brings positive results. These were to be men that lived their life in a way that demonstrated a grasp of the message and teachings of Jesus that was applied to their lives in a way that produced the fruit or results of Christ-like character and conduct.

These early leaders then provided the reason for selecting this new group of leaders in verse 4. These new leaders were to assist the existing leaders of the church so that they could devote themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. In other words, this new group of leaders would focus on helping and assisting the existing leaders of the church by meeting the pressing and practical needs of the church, which would enable the existing leaders of the church to focus on protecting, caring, leading, and feeding the church spiritually. The disciples would be able to love and serve from their spiritual gifts and strengths, while unleashing another group of leaders to come alongside and assist them in the advancement of God’s kingdom mission by loving and serving from their spiritual gifts and strengths.

Tomorrow, we will look at how the rest of the early church responded to this recommendation...In the meantime, if you are a follower of Jesus, here is a question to consider: Are you aware of the spiritual gifts and strengths that you have?